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Proper foods

I am currently trying to start solids with my soon to be 4 month old. His Paediatrician stated that he is now ready. What are the proper foods to start feeding my son? I was told to experiment, but I want the best for my baby. What foods should I start him on? What foods are better than other, any brands in particular?

Thank you for your post. Did your paediatrician say why they recommended weaning your son at 4 months old? I just ask because the usual recommended time to start weaning a baby is 6 months old. Waiting until at least 6 months old is also advocated by the health professional Gill Rapley in the book Baby Led Weaning - she explains why it is important not to start weaning a baby until they are developmentally ready (e.g. sitting up on their own, reaching out for food).

Is your baby breastfed or formula fed? Up to 1 year, milk should still form the main part of the baby's diet. At 12 months of age a breastfed baby should still be getting around 85% of their nutrients from their breast milk.

We followed the baby led weaned approach. At 6 months old, we started offering our son solid food that he could hold and explore and start to feed himself. His first food was cucumbers but he quickly started enjoying: toast, broccoli, tomatoes, chicken etc. Between the ages of 6 and 12 months I breastfed my baby about 1 hour before meals so that he was not actually hungry when he was getting used to eating: the mantra is 'food is for fun until you are one!'. Then from 12 months old he could be breastfed after meals.

Of course, baby led weaning is just one approach and many mums find purees a good way of weaning. For us, baby led weaning has been excellent.

After reading one of your other posts and learning that you are going through some stressful times in your family, I would suggest that you really listen to what LJ has posted above and continue with just breastmilk and/or formula for at least another couple of months. When you offer a baby solid foods and they're simply not ready for them, this can frustration on mum and bub's part. You get frustrated because he's not eating as quickly as you'd like (and he's making a mess because he's thrusting the food back out), and he gets frustrated because he's hungry and not getting much in his tummy. Then you end up having to feed him milk after the solids, and it just takes a lot longer than giving him his usual milk feeding (without solids).

Most of my babies started on solids around 8 months - one was 12 months before she took any interest at all in solids, and one was 6 months old, but the other three were 8 months old.

Consider how much time and effort it will take to get your baby started on solids, and see if you really want to invest that time in starting that now, or if there are other areas that need your extra effort and attention.

I am feeding my baby with almost all natural food. We have tried avocados (he loves), banana, sweet potato, peas, carrots, potatoes, and my mum gave him fish one time. I'm not so sure if at this point meat is okay to feed him. The dilemma is i'm running out ideas as to what to feed him. All those mentioned I always feed him those in a week. Can someone suggest what would be a good addition to our food list? Thanks in advance!

A good addition to your list would be more fruit. Soft fruits like peaches, applesauce, prunes and oranges (without the membrane).

Steamed broccoli and cauliflower are good too. Some doctors recommend holding off on meat until the child is older, but most parents and doctors say meat is just fine when they're younger. In that case, fish would be fine, and very good for bub. Just be absolutely sure there are no teeny, tiny bones in the fish. I like to squish the fish with my fingers before offering it to bub, just to be sure there are no bones. Mmmmm...

I see from an earlier post that your baby is 7 months old. As Kate says, at this age you can introduce meat. At 7 months of age, most children will just 'suck' on the meat and then spit it out but they will still be taking in a lot of the nutrients this way.

I would recommend broccoli as well - it is often a favourite with little ones (perhaps because of its interesting texture). You could also try food such as: cucumber, tomatoes, strawberries, pasta, steamed chicken etc. Ahhh isn't it exciting when you start weaning!